For the previous two weeks, we’ve been examining faith and belief, and we’ve seen some powerful truths regarding what faith and belief are, as well some examples of how to apply faith and belief to our daily lives.
Today we are are going to conclude our mini-series on faith and belief by examine one of the most confusing accounts, of healing in the scriptures— the demon possessed boy, to see what it can teach us about faith and belief, and how Jesus helps us overcome a common barrier of faith.
The Common Trap of Unbelief
The account of the demon possessed boy is a story that many are familiar with. The story typically gives readers the impression that healing requires a vast amount of faith and belief, and that when people don’t receive healing it’s because the simply didn’t have enough of faith or that they didn’t believe sufficiently.
I had these thoughts for many years and it brought me a lot of condemnation. I would ask for things, and then feel as though I needed to believe enough to receive the thing I was after.
Since then, I’ve heard from a number of people that felt the same way. It can be a very insidious trap that forces a person to evaluate themselves on the shifting sand of their own performance rather than Christ, and as a result, never really feel secure.
Before we get too deep into the details, let’s read the story in question, which we can find in Mark 9:17-24:
“And one of the multitude answered and said, Master, I have brought to you my son, which has a dumb spirit;
And wherever he takes him, he tears him: and he foams, and gnashes with his teeth, and pines away: and I spoke to your disciples that they should cast him out; and they could not.
He answers him, and said, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him to me.
And they brought him to him: and when he saw him, straightway the spirit tare him; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming.
And he asked his father, How long is it ago since this came to him? And he said, Of a child.
And often it has cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if you can do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us.
Jesus said to him, If you can, all things are possible to him that believes.
And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help you my unbelief.”
Verse 23 is the main culprit that trips a lot of people up, because most translations record Jesus as saying “if you can believe”, making it appear as though Jesus is pointing the finger back at the father, and placing the burden on the boy’s father for the power to heal his son. However, let me ask you a question— who is really believing in this situation? It’s not the boy because he is demon possessed. It’s not the disciples because they already failed. It’s also not the father of the boy because in verse 22 he says to Jesus “if you can do anything, please help.” The only one who is truly believing perfectly is Jesus Himself, and that is exactly whom Jesus is referring to in verse 23. He responds to the fathers’ plea saying “’if you can?’ All things are possible to Him who believes.”
You see, Jesus is not telling the man to believe more to save his son… Jesus is pointing him to the One who believes perfectly. Jesus is refocusing the man’s attention back to the savior, who is of course Jesus Christ himself.
Then, in verse 24, the father says something very interesting: Lord I believe, help my unbelief! And this is one of those instances which I mentioned in earlier parts of our study, where the English text does not make a clear distinction between the noun of faith and the verb of belief.
Refocusing Your Faith and Belief
Right about now is when you should be getting excited, because once you understand what the father of the boy is saying here, it will strengthen you greatly. The word believe in this verse is the verb form of the word, and the word unbelief is the noun form of the word. The father is saying:
Lord I believe [verb] help my unbelief [noun]
This father believed [verb] by coming to Jesus, that was his action, but then he recognized that he does not have faith (information) regarding whether Jesus can actually heal his boy or not, especially after watching the disciples utterly fail. His faith is shaken. But even so, he recognizes that he can also do something that very few believers today have figured out— he can rest his faith and belief on Jesus!
He rested His belief (his action) on Jesus when he realized that the only action necessary was to go to Jesus! Many believers today are trying to supplement their faith with actions— saying, “okay I asked God for this, now I need to do this in order to get God to move and give me what I asked for” and really that’s just another form of works.
The father in this story recognized that simply going to Jesus was the only action needed. Today our only action needed is believe and speak in faith (2nd Corinthians 4:13) as we studied last week.
This man also rested his faith (information) on Jesus when he realized that he could ask Jesus to help his lack of faith. Many of us are familiar with the verse which states that Jesus is both the author and finisher of our faith. (Hebrews 12:2) Yet very few of us have contemplated on what that statement means in a practical sense.
Jesus is the author of our faith, which means He begins our faith, and the finisher or perfecter of our faith, which means that He also completes our faith. However many times we are trying to build, grow and perfect our faith ourselves; we are trying to stir-up faith within ourselves by our own strength, power or force-of-will, and it doesn’t work. Quite simply, we are failing to rest in Jesus.
Let us remember that one of the fruit of the Spirit is faith! (Galatians 5:22) Faith is not a work, but a fruit. It comes from God.
One of the biggest traps that a believer can fall into is trusting in their own faith or belief for the result, instead of trusting in Jesus! We can become so worked-up and focused about our own faith and belief that we totally lose sight of Jesus. Our foundation is Him, and what He has done for us and in us (given us His Spirit).His Spirit is what gives us power, and that is what guarantees results, not what we perceive as a super faith level or how we perform with “corresponding actions” or whatever else we imagine that we need to do in order to attain our goal. Stop having faith in your own faith! And start resting your faith on Jesus.
And you can do the exact same thing with belief as well. Many times Christians get into a performance mindset where they ask God for something and then feel as though they need to do some kind of action to prove to God that they believe.
I’ve seen Christians throw away things they need because they wanted to prove their belief, and then they were left in bad situations, because the result didn’t come when they were expecting.
My friend, I understand the zeal, and the heart behind doing that, but let me tell you right here and now, that such things are just another form of flesh and works. God already knows your mind and your heart; even if you wanted to prove something to Him, you couldn’t because He already knows you better than you know yourself.
Rather than trying to impress with your own belief, I would humbly suggest submitting to the One who has perfect divine belief, which is Jesus. You can fully rest your belief on Him by looking at His finished work on the cross.
Consider that every good thing, every blessing, every bit of provision, health, healing, and help is your for one reason alone… you’ve been redeemed through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. You didn’t earn any of it, but He gave it all to you as a free gift by His grace.
He obviously believed in His results, because He suffered on the cross in your place and mine, and that is all that I need to know!
Do you see?
You do not need to believe for the thing you want! You simply need to believe what Jesus did for you! Jesus believed that His sacrifice would produce effectual results, otherwise He never would’ve went through with the sacrifice! You can effectually ‘hook’ your faith and believe onto Jesus.
So, What About the Disciples, Then?
In light of what we are seeing today, I know that some of you are wondering why the disciples could not help the boy, and some of you may even recall that Jesus told them that it was because of their unbelief. So with our time remaining, we will address that. Matthew has an account of the same incident in the Bible, but with some other details recorded for us after the deliverance took place. So let’s read Matthew 17:19-21:
“Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out?
And Jesus said to them, Because of your unbelief: for truly I say to you, If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible to you.
However, this kind goes not out but by prayer and fasting.”
Now again this scripture is very commonly used to make people believe that they don’t have enough faith. However if we examine this scripture closely we can plainly see that Jesus is clearly stating that even the smallest measure of faith is sufficient to move mountains. This makes perfect sense since we now understand what faith is, and how to move mountains from our previous studies.
So what is the real issue here? The Greek word for “unbelief” in verse 20 actually means faithlessness, as in a complete lack of faith. And again this is referring to the noun of faith, the spiritual information of God.
Something completely voided the faith of the disciples to the point where they did not even have the small amount which Jesus was talking about. It would benefit us to find out what this thing is.
Mark 9:14 has the answer:
“And when he came to his disciples, he saw a great multitude about them, and the scribes questioning with them.”
To understand this, the scribes here refers to the teachers of the law, the Pharisees. The ones who would boast and be prideful of their works, and the ones who Jesus said were clean on the outside but inside filled with death.
When the disciples allowed the deadly words of the scribes and law teachers into their lives and allowed those ideas to filter inside of their heart and minds, then their faith (spiritual information) was made void. Can I prove this from scripture? Yes. Take a look at Romans 4:13-14:
“For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.
For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect:”
My friends, God is not joking when He calls the Law the Ministry of Death (2nd Corinthians 3:7). I have personally experienced some measure of death that condemnation brings. And by trying to keep the law using human effort and attempting to earn what God has freely given through Jesus, we do nothing but bring destruction upon ourselves.
The Law was born from the selfishness and pride of man, as man boasted in his own ability to keep it. Selfishness and pride have no place in the lives of believers because God is our source and our strength, and that even includes our faith and belief as well.
So I encourage you today. Rest your faith and belief on Jesus. Stop struggling and striving to produce the fruit that comes as a free gift of the Holy Spirit inside of you. Trust in the finished work of Christ, and let Him manifest the miracle-working power of God for you.
Be blessed.
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